12 Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help.
And Joshua put up twelve stones in the middle of Jordan, where the feet of the priests who took up the ark of the agreement had been placed: and there they are to this day.
And Jacob put up a pillar in the place where he had been talking with God, and put a drink offering on it, and oil.
Then Jacob took a stone and put it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his people, Get stones together; and they did so; and they had a meal there by the stones. And the name Laban gave it was Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob gave it the name of Galeed. And Laban said, These stones are a witness between you and me today. For this reason its name was Galeed, And Mizpah, for he said, May the Lord keep watch on us when we are unable to see one another's doings. If you are cruel to my daughters, or if you take other wives in addition to my daughters, then though no man is there to see, God will be the witness between us. And Laban said, See these stones and this pillar which I have put between you and me; They will be witness that I will not go over these stones to you, and you will not go over these stones or this pillar to me, for any evil purpose.
Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.
And so, by God's help, I am here today, witnessing to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come about;
Who gave us salvation from so great a death: on whom we have put our hope that he will still go on to give us salvation;
And Abraham gave that place the name Yahweh-yireh: as it is said to this day, In the mountain the Lord is seen.
Then Moses put up an altar and gave it the name of Yahweh-nissi:
And Joshua put these words on record, writing them in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and put it up there under the oak-tree which was in the holy place of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, See now, this stone is to be a witness against us; for all the words of the Lord have been said to us in its hearing: so it will be a witness against you if you are false to the Lord your God.
You have been my support from the day of my birth; you took me out of my mother's body; my praise will be ever of you.
In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at the edge of the land.
Give ear to me, O family of Jacob, and all the rest of the people of Israel, who have been supported by me from their birth, and have been my care from their earliest days: Even when you are old I will be the same, and when you are grey-haired I will take care of you: I will still be responsible for what I made; yes, I will take you and keep you safe.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 7
Commentary on 1 Samuel 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
In this chapter we have,
1Sa 7:1-2
Here we must attend the ark to Kirjath-jearim, and then leave it there, to hear not a word more of it except once (ch. 14:18), till David fetched it thence, about forty years after, 1 Chr. 13:6.
1Sa 7:3-6
We may well wonder where Samuel was and what he was doing all this while, for we have not had him so much as named till now, since ch. 4:1, not as if he were unconcerned, but his labours among his people are not mentioned till there appears the fruit of them. When he perceived that they began to lament after the Lord he struck while the iron was hot, and two things he endeavoured to do for them, as a faithful servant of God and a faithful friend to the Israel of God:-
1Sa 7:7-12
Here,
1Sa 7:13-17
We have here a short account of the further good services that Samuel did to Israel. Having parted them from their idols, and brought them home to their God, he had put them into a capacity of receiving further benefits by his ministry. Having prevailed in that, he becomes, in other instances, a great blessing to them; yet, writing it himself, he is brief in the relation. We are not told here, but it appears (2 Chr. 35:18) that in the days of Samuel the prophet the people of Israel kept the ordinance of the passover with more than ordinary devotion, notwithstanding the distance of the ark and the desolations of Shiloh. Many good offices, no doubt, he did for Israel, but here we are only told how instrumental he was,